IT jobs in the Civil Service

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dubinamerica

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I'm interested in finding out what sort of options there are within the civil service . I've an applied maths degree and have been working in the IT sector for 10 years as a developer. I'm interested in making a move into the public sector but not too sure where I would fit.. I don't want to start at a level of a leaving cert student and there doesn't appear to be a huge amount of IT jobs outside of Dublin.. I'm interested in moving to the West of Ireland.. So - has anyone experience of working in the civil service and what are the pros/cons. What is the working environment like ? Is there much flexibility regarding time off? One of my long term goals is to have summer months off - is this something that can be arranged ? Regarding work experience, I've been a developer in the financial services sector for a number of years and have a good eye for detail and procedure.. Any info on what type of job within the civil service could suit ? Also - is it advisable to apply 'on spec' or just wait for the publicjobs.ie site to get updated ?
 
Re: civil service jobs

The civil service does not advertise IT jobs externally, with the exception of one. I have seen an IT Administrative Officer position advertised on publicjobs, there was 000's of applicants and probably 1-2 jobs. All other IT jobs are on internal promotion only. You would need to have completed your initial probation, 2 years, before you would be even eligible to apply for a promotion. The civil service really does not suit people in your situation, the grades that the civil service recruits at are mostly lower grades with lower wages.

The only way to apply for permanent a job in the civil service is through publicjobs.ie so there is no point in applying 'on spec'. Working conditions are very flexible, some work patterns are to work 2,3,4 or 5 days a week, take 8 or 12 weeks off in the summer etc. Obviously your salary is reduced accordingly.

IMO you should look at the Health Boards, County Councils etc. They advertise, also on publicjobs.ie, for IT staff regularly and would have similar conditions of employment. Hope this helps.
 
Re: civil service jobs

All these jobs are usually sorted out from the inside. Get on to your local TD and see if they can pull a few strings for you.
 
Re: civil service jobs

Thanks for the feedback. I've been looking throught that publicjobs website on and off for a while and it did seem that a lot of jobs are low grades or very specialized (health sector, engineers etc) and there's not much for people who have a few years experience in the private sector in IT .. I'll keep looking out and see what comes up.. If there's anyone with experience of working in any of these public area jobs can they send on details of their experience in the groups - work conditions, especially in IT /finance areas.. thanks for all the pointers already .
 
Re: civil service jobs

The information posted by unregistered is incorrect, your local TD will not be able to pull a few strings for you.
 
Re: civil service jobs

I second what MTS said, string pulling won't work, I'm in the civil service, we do get a lot of letters from TD's on behalf of their constituents looking for jobs and they are all told the same thing, point your constituent to public jobs website. not a clue.
 
Re: civil service jobs

mts said:
The civil service does not advertise IT jobs externally, with the exception of one.
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This is simply not true as a general rule.
 
Re: civil service jobs

Having worked in IT in the civil service for a number of years, I know that it is true. The AO grade competitions in the last two years have had an IT option, other than that there is no external recruitment for IT.

Civil Servants in general service grades, non IT posts, must go through competitive apptitude tests and an interview to get an IT post. These competitions are not open to the public. Civil Servants can also compete in their own Department for an IT post in that Department, this usually involves just an interview.

Do you know something I don't clubman because I'd be very interested to hear how to get an IT post other than the two routes I have mentioned.
 
Re: civil service jobs

Sorry - I thought that you were referring to Civil/Public Service jobs in general and not IT jobs in particular. My mistake.
 
Re: civil service jobs

"The AO grade competitions in the last two years have had an IT option, other than that there is no external recruitment for IT. "
mts - what's AO - is that the Admin Officer ? Is that aimed at the graduates more so than school leavers? I thought that there was just the one set of exams , aptitude exams .. do you know if there's different exams available or people sit the same exam with different sections depending on what you're interested in ? Also - you mentioned the internal route - can anyone apply for those posts as soon as they are hired or is there a 'waiting period' of a year or two before moving positions?
Also - has anyone heard of Kilroy's college - they have an online course for these exams - any feedback ? A relative did the garda exam years back and found a course run by Kilroy's very useful but I haven't heard anything on the civil service one.
I appreciate all the feedback with this !
 
Re: civil service jobs

The AO is an Administrative Officer. It is aimed at graduates, you must have a degree as far as I recall, but existing civil servants can also apply if they satisfy certain consitions. There is three different streams to recruiting at this grade now, IT, finance I think - not 100% on that and general. You can opt for one, two or all three when doing the aptitude test. When I did it about 2 years ago there was another test added to the general test for the IT stream. Civil Service exams for different entry grades will be different. There is not just one exam for everything.

You would need to have completed your initial probation, 2 years, before you would be eligible to apply for a promotion.

I have never done any courses for sitting apptitude tests, IMO it is not necessary unless you are particularly bad at them. It is not always the fairest way to recruit as I know very good intelligent people who are very poor at apptitude tests.
 
Re: civil service jobs

Unregistered said:
All these jobs are usually sorted out from the inside. Get on to your local TD and see if they can pull a few strings for you.
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This is complete and utter CRAP!
 
Im currently working as a IT contractor within a government department.

You should check out the government e-tenders website and submit a tender for a particular position if you see one available.

This is how I got the job.

Apart from that most government departments outsource their development to the likes of Accenture, Bearing Point etc.
 
Remember that a contract will most likely not be subject to the same T&C of employment as one of a civil servant.
 
Re: civil service jobs

Unregistered said:
All these jobs are usually sorted out from the inside. Get on to your local TD and see if they can pull a few strings for you.
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This has provoked some vociferous denials I see.

I work in the civil service. In all truthfulness, I would have to say that "pull" played a large part in my getting the job (no TD involved though). That was a few years ago. I have since helped friends successfully seek jobs in this area.

With sufficient seniority, anything can be done, more or less.

Check out this thread also:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=9332

Peter
 
Re: civil service jobs

Cservant said:
In all truthfulness, I would have to say that "pull" played a large part in my getting the job (no TD involved though). That was a few years ago. I have since helped friends successfully seek jobs in this area.
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I think you're being deliberately provocative. Can you descibe the circumstances through which "pull" helped you get your job?

Did this occur in the last 40 years?
 
In my 10 years in the civil service recruitment has always been an open and transparent process.
 
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